title: Bordetella pertussis: why is it still circulating?
abstract: Bordetella pertussis is the causal agent of whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory disease that is life-threatening in infants under the age of three months and may also be very severe in pregnant women and seniors. This disease can be prevented by vaccination but it remains a public health problem in many developed and developing countries.(1) So, why is B. pertussis still circulating? We need to consider several aspects of this vaccine-preventable disease when answering this question: (i) the history of the disease and the historical context in which the vaccine was developed; (ii) the type of vaccine used; (iii) the vaccination strategy and coverage; (iv) the disease surveillance after the introduction of generalized vaccination and (v) the surveillance for the causal agent of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Institut Pasteur, Molecular Prevention and Therapy of Human Diseases Unit, Paris, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), URA3012, France. Electronic address: nicole.guiso@pasteur.fr.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Guiso
mesh_terms: D001886:Bordetella pertussis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010567:Pertussis Vaccine / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology*; D014917:Whooping Cough / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D010567:Pertussis Vaccine
keywords: Bordetella pertussis; Diagnostic; Vaccine; Whooping cough